sharp



2 Shets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.) I V O. S. SHARP.

-HORSE' RAKE. No. 587,762. PatentedAug. 10,1897.

(No Model.)

HORSE RAKE.

Patented Aug. 170, 1897.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES S. SHARP, OF AUBURN, NEWV YORK, ASSIGNOR TO THE D. M. OSBORNE &COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

HORSE-RAKE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 587,762, dated August10, 1897.

Application filed January 20, 1897. Serial No. 619,960. (N0 mocleL) Toall whom, it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES S. SHARP, of Auburn, in the county of Cayugaand State of New York, have invented an Improvement in Horse-Rakes, ofwhich the following description, in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, is a specification, like letters on the drawings representinglike parts.

In another application for Letters Patent, Serial No. 591,786, filed byme a horse-rake is shown having in combination with any usual orsuitable rake -feeth and stripper bars or fingers or equivalent clearingdevices for the rake-teeth a set of check-teeth, of which there may beany suitable number, which project rearwardly into the hay-receivingspace of the rake-teeth and terminate in front of said teeth, and thehay which accumulates in the hay-receiving space of the rake-teeth isthrust upon said check-teeth and thereby prevented from rolling in saidhay-receiving space as it accumulates. In said application thecheck-teeth are separately attached at their forward ends to therake-frame and are independently adjustable.

This invention has for its object to provide a frame-such, for instance,as a cross-barby which a number of check-teeth may be supported,preferably in such a manner as to independently rise and fall, and sodisposed as to enter the hay-receiving space at any point desired and toprovide suitable adjusting devices for said frame, whereby all of thecheck-teeth may be adjusted and held with their points at differentelevations above the ground.

In carrying out this invention a transverse bar may be employed as thetooth-carrying frame, and to said bar the check-teeth will be looselyconnected at their forward ends, so that while supported by said barthey may independently rise and fall.

The tooth-carrying frame may be attached to the draft-frame by pivotalsupports,where by it may be moved to simultaneously adjust -thecheck-teeth, and an adjusting device will be provided for it, which willpreferablyhave as a cooperative part of it a foot-lever so disposed asto be easily accessible to the rider.

Figure 1 shows in plan view a horse-rake provided withsimultaneously-adjustable check-teeth embodying this invention; Fig. 2,a detail showing in side elevation many of the essential parts of therake, the cheekteeth, their supporting-frame, and adjusting devicetherefor.

The horse-rake herein shown and to which my present invention is appliedis of substantially the same construction as represented in UnitedStates Patent No. 517,491, dated April 3, 1894, to which reference maybe had, but thisparticular rake is shown merely for the sake ofillustrating the invention, as any other well-known or suitable formmight as well be shown.

The rake-teeth 'm, of which there may be as many as desired and whichmay be of any usual or suitable construction, are secured to a rollingrake-head, and the stripper bars or fingers m, which are secured to theframe of the rake and project rearwardly between said rake-teeth m, mayalso be of any usual or suitable construction, so long as they serve asclearing devices for the rake-teeth.

The draft-frame a has brackets a erected thereon formed with bifurcatedends, which receive ears on the rolling rake-head, and pivot-bolts areprovided which pass through said bifurcated ends and the said ears, andthereby pivotal] y connect the rolling rake: head to the draft-frame.

The check-teeth b for the hay which accum ulates in the hay-receivin gspace in the raketeeth m, of which there may be several, are composed ofrods like unto the rake-teeth, and they are supported at their forwardends and project rcarwardly into the hay -receiving space of therake-teeth, terminating, how ever, a short distance in front of saidraketeeth.

. The check-teeth b are herein shown as made straight from end to endand provided with more or less pointed rear ends and loosely or flexiblyattached at their forward ends to a cross-bar 10, which extends acrossthe machine beneath the draft-frame a, and said bar 20 is connected withsaid draft-frame by hangers or straps w, the lower ends of which aresecured to said cross-bar by rivets, bolts, or otherwise, and the upperends of which are pivotally connected with said draft-frame by pivotbolts or pins The cross-bar to, so supported and bearing the check-teethb, is adapted to be moved bodily in the arc of a circle about the pivots10 The loose or flexible connections for the check-teeth, by means ofwhich they are connected with the cross-bar, are herein shown asproduced by bending the forward ends of the teeth at right angles to themain part thereof and inclosing said right-angular ends in or byrecessed clips 10 which are. secured to said cross-bar. The clips areformed with transverse recesses for the laterallyturned or right-angularends of the checkteeth and also with vertical recesses adjoining saidtransverse recesses in which work the shanks of the check-teeth next totheir right-angularly formed ends, thereby giving to the checkteeth alimited independent.

movement. As the cross-bar w is moved in the arc of a circle about thepivots 10 the check-teeth b will be caused to occupy different elevatedpositions and different angles, and the points of said teeth will bemoved nearer to or farther from said rake-teeth. As a means of moving oradjusting the cross-bar w to thus simultaneously adjust all thecheckteeth I have herein attached to said cross-bar w a foot-lever to,which projects forward and is adapted to cooperate with or engage aratchet-toothed bar (or it may be a rack-bar) 10 secured to andsupported by the draft-frame a. This foot-lever is so located as to bewithin easy reach of the rider.

The check-teeth b normally occupy a position oblique to the ground, asshown by full lines, Fig. 2, but are free to rise independently into thedotted-line position shown in said figure when requiredas, for instance,when lifting the rake-teeth to dump.

- While the rake is gathering the hay the rake-teeth and check-teethwill occupy the position shown by full lines, Fig. 2', and as the hayenters the hay-receiving space of the rake-teeth it will be caught byand thrust upon said check-teeth and will thus be prevented from rollingover in the hay-receiving space of the rake-teeth.

When dumping the accumulated hay, the rake-teeth are elevated, as usual,and the check-teeth b will rise somewhat, owing to their looseconnection with the frame by reason of being entangled with the hay, andthe hay is then free to be discharged, the checkteeth I) being withdrawnfrom the hay as the rake advances. As soon as the upward strain on thecheck-teeth is relieved they will fall and resume their normal obliqueposition.

Instead of employing the adjusting device herein shown and described forthe tooth-carrying frame 10, it having as a cooperative part of it afoot-lever, I desire it to be understood that said tooth-carrying framemay be adjusted by any other form or construction of adjusting device,whereby all of said checkteeth may be simultaneously adjusted and j yetcome within the spirit and scope of this invention.

I claim- 1. In a rake, rake-teeth, means for operat- 7o ing them, andstripper bars or fingers, combined with check-teeth projecting into thehay-receiving space, a frame to which-they are connected, and anadjusting device for said frame whereby the check-teeth may besimultaneously adjusted and held at difier ent elevations, substantiallyas described. 2. In a rake, rake-teeth, means for operating them, andstripper bars orfingers, combined with check-teeth projecting into thehay-receivingspace, a frame to which they are loosely connected to riseand fall independently, and an adjusting device for said frame, wherebythe check-teeth maybe simnl taneously adjusted and held atdifferent-olevations, substantially as described.

3. In a rake, rake-teeth, means for'operating them, and stripper bars orfingers, combined with check-teeth projecting into the hay-receivingspace, a frame bearing them, 0 I

and-an adjusting device for said frame having as a cooperative part ofit a foot-lever, substantially as described.

4. In a rake, rake-teeth, means foroperating them, and stripper bars orfingers, com- 5 bined with check-teeth, a cross-bar to which they areconnected, supports for said bar whereby it is movable bodily in the arcof a circle, and means for moving it and holding it in its differentadjusted positions, substanme tially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

' CHARLES S. SHARP. \Vitnesses:

RAYMOND M. ATHERLY, SIDNEY E. FARWELL.

